Lake of Bays councillors may get raise

LAKE OF BAYS - It seems that Lake of Bays council plans to vote itself a raise at its upcoming municipal meeting on Feb. 28.
At their finance and corporate services meeting on Feb. 14, council passed a resolution directing staff to draft a new remuneration bylaw with a salary increase for councillors as well as the mayor.
The increase would see their paycheques rise by five per cent per year, starting next month through to 2014. The unbudgeted increase would become effective March 1.
Coun. Shane Baker was the only one to vote against the resolution, saying he would be more comfortable with a three per cent raise, effective in 2013, so it could be part of the next budget process.
He questioned whether council was allowed to vote itself a raise.
“I thought you weren’t able to vote a raise during your term of office,” he said.
“That’s more the practice … it’s not legislated as such,” responded CAO Don Chevalier.
At the District Municipality of Muskoka level council has a mandate to review their compensation, but any changes decided upon are enacted when the next council is voted in.
“They don’t have to but that’s what the district does,” said Stephen Cairns, commissioner of finance and corporate services. “So they don’t feel they’re in a conflict of interest.”
It was Mayor Bob Young who requested that staff put together a report on the remuneration paid to council members.
“I think our councillor salary base is low – and think it has to be adjusted,” he said.
According to the staff report the salary of Lake of Bays councillors, including expenses, is $13,900, the lowest in the district. BY comparison, Huntsville councillors make $16,500 and Gravenhurst councillors top the list at $20,261.
In Huntsville, council automatically receives a yearly cost of living increase that is tied to the consumer price index, 2.1 per cent this year. They also have allotments for things like special meetings at $50 per meeting, and $150 for meetings outside of the municipality and optional health and dental benefits that total $1,775 per year.
The Lake of Bays mayor’s salary is $33,100. In Huntsville the mayor makes $30,400 and the Gravenhurst mayor has the highest salary of the local municipalities at $37,221, according to the report. The district chair’s salary is significantly higher at $61,500 as of April 1, 2012.
One third of municipal councillors’ salaries are tax exempt.
Young said that given the current compensation, in his opinion, council positions will only be taken on by people who are retired or have another steady income source.
The three members of council, who sit at the district table, get additional pay. For Baker and Coun. Bob Lacroix that adds up to $27,650. For Young it adds up to $46,850. The mayor estimates that he works a minimum of 40 to 50 hours a week fulfilling his responsibilities to the township.
“Many people would think that there is not a lot of time required at district because there is only one council and one committee meeting every three weeks. However, this week alone, I have spent 16 hours in meetings at the district offices in Bracebridge. To prepare for these meetings I bet I spent eight to 10 hours reading reports and analyzing data. For the Lake of Bays Township, we must focus on district activities and spending because it takes so much of our total tax dollar,” wrote the mayor in an email to this newspaper.
Coun. Ginny Burgess said that if you look back over time, salaries haven’t changed much in 20 years, while just in her five years on the job, the demands have increased considerably.
“We realize it’s a volunteer kind of job … you’re happy to do it,” she said, adding that the rate doesn’t reflect the amount of work involved as more responsibility is loaded on councils and municipalities.
Young said the rate is basically the same as it was in 1996, and if it had simply kept up with inflation it would be over $40,000 now.
The staff report presented indicates the mayor’s salary in 1996 was $32,922 and councillors made between $11,370 and $12,312.
“The first year I came on council the first thing council did was vote a reduction in salary,” said Coun. Nancy Tapley, adding that it was an attempt to try to balance the budget.
She said the time demands have become “increasingly enormous.”
“It is so technical now, there isn’t a week that goes by without meetings,” she said.
But Tapley said if the township were to pay what the job is worth, “you’re going to bankrupt the municipality.”